The Castle
by fireflower297
Summary: Chuck AU where all of the Bartowskis/Woodcombs are spies of a sort and Chuck hasn't met Sarah yet. He is on a mission to find a missing agent, she just happens to be that agent. Charah.
Charles Carmichael was an accomplished man. He was a fast runner, had nimble fingers, and was not too shabby with the ladies, but that was all out of necessity. Chuck Bartowski learned to run while being chased by bullies, had nimble fingers from using video game controllers, and the only reason he wasn't altogether shabby was because his sister and her husband kept him fed and updated on the times. So really, he wasn't that accomplished.

Charles Carmichael wasn't real, a fact known to few and far between. He was a fictionalization of what one young man had always wanted to be, a spy. Though, in reality, being a spy took a lot more work than might be expected. At the moment, the man formerly known as Chuck was running through the streets of a city he barely knew, alongside two hulking brutes he barely knew. Scratch that- one he barely knew and other was his brother-in-law.

So far, it hadn't been his worst mission ever. They had successfully retrieved the information about their missing agent, though they still needed a secure location to report from. It didn't help that Fulcrum was currently chasing them. Ever since Carmichael first heard about the group of rogues, he had worried that something terrible would happen. Of course, back then, he hadn't even known about how desperately they wanted to steal his family's research.

The Bartowskis had been caught up in the spy business for years. It was one of the first things Chuck learned upon joining the CIA. They were such big players that each one had their own code-name. His father's, Orion; his mother's, Frost; and his sister's, well- she was Doc. It had been a surprise to hear that his sweet sister, Dr. Ellie Bartowski-Woodcomb, was a spy (of sorts). Chuck- well, Charles really- had a code-name of his own, "nerd".

It had been granted to him on one of his early training exercises, as he had looked quite the part standing behind the counter of the Nerd Herd desk at a Buy More. Charles Carmichael hated it. Being called that by his supervisors was humiliating and reminded him of when he was simply Chuck, running away from bullies and playing video games with Morgan till his fingers chafed. He still played video games with Morgan, but nowadays they were online and not in the same room.

Charles let out a sigh as he ran next to the brute squad of two. One of them looked over as he ran, curious as to the agent's forlornness, "You good there Carmichael?" Charles was just glad that they didn't call him by his code-name and gave a grunt of assent. "Well, we're coming up on the safe house, put some more pep in your step," the blond brute continued. All three of them picked up the pace and dropped the volume.

The safe house was more like a hut, one where they stored the backup equipment and food. The blond brute put in the call to headquarters and gave the report before turning to his comrades with a smile. "Well guys, it was really awesome working with you," the blond said with a bright smile. Charles rolled his eyes, Ellie really had to get Devon to lighten up on his use of the word awesome.

The other brute grunted, "We need to discuss where we go from here and not play 'how are the loved ones'. Carmichael, do you think from what you saw that the missing agent might be here?"

Charles shook his head with a frown, "I can't tell for sure. Do remember that I've never actually worked with her."

Devon frowned, "Do you have any idea why they sent in agents with no connections to her at all?"

Charles wasn't sure of that himself and turned to the one he believed to be called Coburn, "You're the one with the _most_ connections. Do you know something we don't?" Coburn growled, an actual _growl_ that made Charles want to retreat back to the days when he worked with computers, "I just thought that we could share our opinions and actually work out where the agent is!"

Coburn shrugged and gave up an _hmm_ of 'why not?' "Agent Walker and I were working on a project together when she went missing. Carmichael, you were brought along for your computer skills and Awesome," here Coburn grunted in annoyance at being forced to say the word, "was brought along for his medical skills. I'm the one with combat experience as well as prior interaction with the missing agent."

Chuck snickered, "So I have a brain, Devon works with hearts, and you have nerve? I wonder if it's good or bad that we're trying to bring the agent home." The others simply stared at him incredulously. "Really? Have you never seen _the Wizard of Oz_?"

"I have," Devon assented, "Ellie forced me to watch it a while ago. It wasn't that bad." Charles smiled at his brother-in-law. "I'm just surprised that you're trying to compare a rescue mission to it."

Coburn chuckled, a rare sound to come from the older man's mouth, "My daughter made me watch it years ago." The others looked at him in shock. "What? Just because I don't advertise that I have a life away from here, you think I don't have one at all?"

The young men nodded slowly. "You know what Coburn?" Charles said with a smile. "I think it's great that you aren't stuck doing spy work all day long! I think everyone needs a break once in a while."

Coburn rolled his eyes, "It isn't when you get home and all you hear is your daughter's idiot fiancé going on about how he wishes his best friend could come to the ceremony." The man started going around and checking all ammunition, "I hate the bearded little fellow, but Alex loves him and I wasn't able to convince her otherwise."

"When I was going to propose to Ellie, I had to go to Chuck for permission as he was her only male relative available to ask," Awesome said with a smile at the memory as Carmichael winced.

"Awesome, I told you not to call me that while on missions!"

As the three agents played the exact game that Coburn did not want to play; a few miles away, a young woman nervously paced in an underground room. Castle was more like a complex, one that the rogue agents of Fulcrum wanted complete control over and access to. It was said that this particular Castle had the resources to complete the Intersect. The problem? Sarah Walker (for that was her current alias) was terrible with computers.

She was fine with locks, codes, puzzles, and knocking people out. Computers were a whole other matter. They were a combination of things that on the whole, confused her and caused her to lose focus. Upon entering the Agency in 1999, she had been stuck doing the boring stuff, the stuff that one doesn't think of as real spy work. Paperwork- with real paper! The most activity she could get in a day was her daily run. Then she started getting dance and martial arts lessons from her coworkers- that was fun.

Just a few months prior to September 11, 2001, she started working with a man named Anderson, who never told her his first name, for fear of what might happen. Shortly after the attacks on that fateful day, the man had begun to go out on missions to the Middle East with the troops, as well as on other missions. She never heard from him again. It was a strange thought, but he would have been someone useful on this mission.

Sarah had been exploring Castle for weeks, as the place seemed to have an unending supply of rooms. It was fascinating to think that it had been in existence for so long. From what she had found in the paper records, this particular Castle had originally been built in the 1970's. Something moved in the corner of her eye and when Sarah turned around, a woman was standing there with a bundle of carrots and a pair of gardening gloves.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked, going for one of the knives from her ankle holster. She studied the woman's face, which was careworn with age. She had shockingly cool blue eyes and brown hair that fell below her shoulders. "Put the items on the table, hands over your head, and tell me who you are!" Agent Walker said, in her most commanding voice as she brandished the knife.

The woman, who could have been her mother, gave Sarah a small smile and did as she was asked to. When she spoke, her voice was smoky, "My name is Mary. Welcome to my family's home away from home."

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed, I don't know when I'll continue this but stay tuned! (PS- Did you catch the Covert Affairs reference?)

Disclaimer: The recognizable characters in this story belong to Warner Brothers and NBC Universal. I've got nada.


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